Apple’s next iPhone, affectionally dubbed by the media “Tenth Anniversary iPhone”, will have curves similar to those of the original model, which was released ten years ago in 2007, Korean site ETNews said Monday. In paying homage to the original iPhone, the casing of Apple’s next phone is thought to adopt “water drop design” with rounded curves on both its front and back, just like the original model. “Apple’s next iPhone will have a rear case made of glass,” an industry official said. “This glass case is a curved wall surrounded by four sides,” as per machine translation of the original article.
iPhone 8’s rear curve is reportedly a bit gentler and a tad rounder than existing metal case models, ETNews said. The company will achieve this by using a three-dimensional glass material on the back to give iPhone 8’s top, bottom, left and right edges deeper curves resembling the original model.
Apple’s been re-using designs based on a flat backplate since iPhone 4.
As there have been no leaks of iPhone 8 backplates, only time will tell if the device will be sandwiched between two pieces of glass that’s slightly curved or feature an all-glass front and back akin to the iPhone 4/4s series, as KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo predicted.
At any rate, the rumor-mill seems to be in agreement that the Cupertino company will be moving away from aluminum to glass for the next iPhone. In January, Apple celebrated the tenth anniversary of the original iPhone’s unveiling so it’s possible that the company may have something really special in store for the upcoming refresh.
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“We believe one of the reasons why new iPhones will switch from metal casing to glass casing is to support wireless charging,” Kuo wrote last November in a research note.
The following month, Nikkei reported that all 2017 iPhone models would adopt Apple’s new glass-on-glass industrial design. KGI later added that all 2017 would have wireless charging.
Other sources think Apple will release a pair of iterative updates this year in the form of LCD-based iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus, augmented by a new flagship iPhone 8 model boasting an all-new industrial design with a bezel-less AMOLED screen.
Due to advanced technologies, iPhone 8 could potentially cost upward of $1,000.
Due to manufacturing issues, iPhone 8 may not go on sale in September alongside the 4.7-inch iPhone 7s and 5.5-inch iPhone 7s Plus.
Source: ETNews (Google Translate)